Path to Power
by darkpotter99
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave without telling anyone to complete the quest Dumbledore left for them. My version of the Deahly Hallows. Full Summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: My version of the Deathly Hallows. Harry doesn't want to wait around to be rescued. So with his trusted companions at his side, they embark on an epic adventure of magic, death and a lot more. Will be completely different from the Deathly Hallows as I didn't like how everything fell into place for Harry. In this story, Harry, Ron and Hermione will actually have to fight this war like a real one. It will be bloody, gruesome, terrifying, epic with a storyline that I hope will be original. Will feature powerful trio but not so much that they wave their wand once and the job is done. It will have competent Death Eaters and a relentless, calculating and powerful Voldemort. This is not a kid's story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any affiliates.

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><p>Leaving Home<p>

The window in his room flashed bright white as the thunderstorm grew even fiercer. The wind was howling as the window was splattered over and over by the torrential rain. Harry stood watching the darkness of the night and facing the rain in slight awe at the power of nature. His brow crunched up as he was thinking of the events of the past year and more importantly, of the coming future. The task at hand left to him and his two closest friends seemed utter impossible, and yet after what happened so far, he was even more determined to finish this once and for all. He knew right at the moment of his mentor's fall, that either he destroys Voldemort or die in the process. He didn't know how long it would take, months but most likely years. The horcruxes could be anywhere. Despite his respect for Dumbledore, Harry was angry at him for not giving him any more information as to where the other horcruxes might be. But Harry knew that even Dumbledore was still searching for them up until the moment of his death. With even Dumbledore's inability to find the horcruxes easily, this task seemed even more daunting than it had already been. He had already thought of the option of just leaving everything behind. There was no way he could do that after all he had been through. The war was brewing up and Voldemort and he were at its centre. Voldemort; the one who ruined his life, the one who wouldn't think twice about putting him down, the one who would torture all those that were near to him. Voldemort had to die, and Harry knew that he would have to kill him. Besides the prophecy linking the two of them together, this had become much too personal for him to just leave it.

Lightning flashed yet again as he turned away from the window and looked around his room. It was the cleanest he had ever seen it. He had packed everything he needed in a small rucksack, which wasn't much, and locked everything else in his trunk and stowed it away in the attic. Maybe if he was still alive, or if this house was still standing he'd come back for it. It was trivial stuff like his school robes or his Firebolt, but he cherished them still. Harry looked at the watch in his hand. He nodded to himself and withdrew a letter from his pocket. He placed it in the middle of his bed and left the room. He walked down the stairs carefully so as to not wake up the Dursleys. It was five minutes to midnight and they should be here soon. He walked to the front door and opened it. He stepped back as he waited for them to come in any second now. Suddenly the floor was wet clearly from the footprint and Harry smiled. They were here.

"Any troubles?" he asked quietly. Ron took off the cloak from himself and Hermione and placed it on the ground. Both of them had not been affected by the rain as they were completely dry. He couldn't say the same about the cloak though.

"Nah," he replied smirking. "Piece of cake." The three friends looked at each other for a brief moment and engulfed each other in a three way hug. Harry revelled in the touch and presence of his greatest confidants, the two people remaining that he would give up his life for at a moment's notice. They held each other for a full minute before receding.

"Are you ready Harry?" asked Hermione as she took out three vials from her handbag. Harry nodded and motioned for her to give him one. She passed one to him and one to Ron. Harry quickly downed the nasty looking polyjuice potion. He didn't even bother checking who he was transforming into. It was a non-decrepit muggle who was relatively his size. He removed his glasses and put them into his backpack realizing he won't need them. Ron's hair turned black and his skin brown as he shrunk by an inch. Hermione's hair grew past her shoulder blades and turned black as well. She also remained the same size. She walked up and picked up the invisibility cloak. She folded it and stuffed it into her handbag, which seemed to be larger on the inside than on the outside.

"Let's go mate," said Ron as he grabbed an umbrella from Hermione and walked outside. He opened the umbrella and motioned them over. Harry looked into the house once more and hoped that the letter would be all the explanation they would need. Hermione held his hand and led him out. Ron closed the door behind them and walked in between them holding the umbrella high. They huddled together as they walked down Privet drive in the rain. Their disguises served them well as they met no resistance of any type. Harry had his wand up his sleeve and would draw it at the first sign of danger. He looked over to see Ron's right hand twitching, and knew he was expecting trouble as well, even though they checked maybe a dozen times when the guards from the Order would change. But none came, and the three friends walked on in silence.

As they walked, letting Hermione lead the way, Harry thought about the Weasleys, and everyone else in the Order. He hoped they would forgive them. He looked over to his two friends and thought about how much they sacrificed for this. Hermione erased her parent's memories and sent them to Australia. Ron left his family behind for him knowing of the dangers that plagued them. They had started planning this the day after Dumbledore's death. Harry didn't want anyone in the Order to be a shield for him anymore. Enough was enough. He needed to do this on his own now, with only Ron and Hermione at his side. Despite minor quarrels, they were always at his side. They would finish this, no matter how long it took. They vowed to eliminate Voldemort off the face of the Earth once and for all.

The rain had calmed down to just a trickle now as they reached their first destination. Ron closed the umbrella and handed it to Hermione who put it into her handbag. They walked down the stairs towards the subway platform as the train pulled up. They had arrived right on time.

"So you sure these things are safe?" asked Ron sceptically. Harry grinned at this. Hermione led Ron in as the doors opened and Harry walked in afterwards. They took a seat sided by side. Luckily no one was in the compartment with them as the train closed the doors and started moving.

"Homenum Revelo" whispered Hermione under her breath. She looked to her left and then to her right. "We're alone in this compartment. Silencio"

"Is everything else set?" asked Harry.

"I packed the books we needed from Grimmauld Place, and emptied your vault. I gave about a quarter of it Hermione to convert it to muggle money," said Ron as he took out a miniscule chest in the palm of his hands and passed it over to Harry. Harry looked at it briefly before pocketing it securely. He then looked over to Hermione.

"I've made the reservations in a hotel in London. We'll be staying there for the night before we leave the country the next day by apparition. We need to stay hidden until you turn of age in a week Harry. Until then we could start planning as to what we need to do to search for them." Harry nodded but was a little vary of leaving the country plan.

"Hermione I know I've asked before but are you sure you can apparate both of us as far as France?" Hermione smiled as did Ron.

"We already tried it," answered Ron. Harry looked over to him. "Hermione side along apparated with me, so I know where to go. Now she'll be doing the same with you while I go alone," finished Ron.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"Honestly Harry, don't you trust us?" Harry looked into her eyes and she knew the answer right away. "All right, I was a bit surprised that I could do it, but my magic just led me where I needed to go." Harry nodded satisfied. He had wished he could have helped with the planning a bit more. But since he was underage, he couldn't do anything without the Ministry knowing. The train jerked and stopped. They got up and left. Their disguises were still in effect, and they would be until they got to the hotel as they planned. Hermione again led the way as Harry thought of the original plan to move him. Ron and Hermione had told him a week before when they had snuck out to meet him. They were going to make seven duplicates of him and try to confuse their pursuers. Harry had hated the plan vehemently. That was not going to happen. The only part of the plan that will happen is the moving of the Dursleys. Ron had left a letter telling his family of what they were going to do. There was no need of the seven Potters plan anymore. Hermione led them into a hotel and walked up to the reception desk, while Ron and Harry waited by the door.

"You ok?" asked Harry. He noticed that Ron looked a bit tense ever since they got out of the train.

"It's nothing," he replied as Harry glared at him. He relented. "It's tough you know, leaving all of them like this," Harry nodded and agreed silently. Hermione returned with the room key and led them towards the elevator.

Once they got into the room, Hermione warded it against any intrusion she could think of.

"Let's get some sleep," said Hermione as she took off her shoes and walked to the bed and lay down in the middle. Harry and Ron did the same as they lay down on either side of her. They didn't bother changing knowing they were going to have to wake up soon anyways. Harry turned over to face Hermione and saw tears in her eyes.

"Hey," comforted Harry as he wiped the tear away. Ron faced them concerned.

"I feel horrible leaving them like this," she started crying. Ron put his arm around her as Harry wiped her tears once more.

"We'll see them again," said Ron. Hermione looked at them once before closing her eyes. Harry and Ron exchanged glances and nodded, as they too closed their eyes. They huddled together under the comforter and fell asleep trusting Hermione's wards to warn them of any danger.

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><p>The Burrow<p>

Ginny woke up to the sunlight hitting her face. She sat up slowly and yawned faintly noticing a letter falling to the ground. She picked it up and opened it and immediately noticed her brother's writing. Her eyes went wider and wider as she read the letter. A lone tear escaped her right eye as she jumped out of bed and ran downstairs.

Arthur and Molly Weasley noticed their daughter's frantic behaviour.

"Ginny dear, what's wrong?" asked Arthur. Ginny flailed the letter in her hand now openly crying.

"They're gone."

A/N: Please Read and Review. I know it's a very slow start, but I usually won't be this descriptive for everything. The following chapters will be much longer and the pace will be faster than this. Depending on the reviews, I will start posting further chapters. Thank you.


	2. A Tough Decision

_A/N: Sorry for the very long wait, but I completely forgot that I started this story as I got busy with school…oops. I found the first chapter on my laptop and decided to continue it. It's not the same storyline it would have originally been, but I'll continue it anyways._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter._

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><p>"Ready to go?" asked Ron. Harry nodded before Hermione who was looking through her bag shook her head vigorously.<p>

"No, we have to go to my house!" she exclaimed.

"What, why?" asked Harry.

"I'm so stupid. I stored some stuff in the basement to recover later but I left one of the memory vials that had my parent's older memories in. We need to get it in case Death eaters tear the place apart. They'll recognize what it is immediately. They'll know what I've done," Hermione was now frantic. Harry tried to remain calm.

"Ok, it's just a little detour. Let's go get it," said Harry. Hermione, not wanting to waste any time, grabbed both Ron and Harry's hand and disapparated right from their hotel room. They appeared a second later in a small suburb. Harry noticed that Hermione's house was significantly larger than the Dursley's but he pushed those thoughts to the side and drew his wand. Ron did the same as Hermione ran inside. "Follow her, I'll check around a little to see if anyone's here," said Harry. Ron nodded and jogged in after her. Harry looked around for any movement. He was a little apprehensive. _We should have apparated under the cloak_.

"Harry, come in, she got it. We'll apparate from inside the house. It was risky enough apparating out here," said Ron. Harry nodded and started his way inside the house. Only then did Harry notice that Hermione should have apparated them to the backyard at least. Though it's her parent's memories so she would be worried. Harry sighed and closed the door behind him. All at once the door burst inwards and Harry went flying. He quickly clutched his wand, turned around ignoring the pain in his back and cast a shield as another spell flew onto it. Ron ran from the other room hearing the commotion and started firing off spells outside the door.

"Stupefy, Impedimenta. Harry get into the other room, I'll cover you," shouted Ron. Harry ran past Ron. Hermione was in the living room, waiting for him.

"Anti-apparition wards are up," she said. Just then, Ron flew through the doorway and landed a couple of feet away from it. It looked like the adrenaline kept him going, because he got right back up. A figure in a dark cloak was coming in. "Incarcerous, protego" said Hermione and the Death eater, now that they noticed, was bound by thick ropes and fell over. Hermione held a steady shield over the doorway. "We can get out from the back," Ron and Harry nodded and turned to run the other way when four spells hit Hermione's shield in succession. The third one broke through but was deflected by Harry, while the fourth one grazed Hermione's arm and left a shallow gash from wrist to elbow.

"Ron, take her and go now," shouted Harry as he took cover behind a sofa. Ron led Hermione into the kitchen. Harry heard footsteps and concluded that there were three of them at least.

"Where are you Potter, you can't hide for long," said a voice that he didn't recognize. Harry ran from his cover and shot two stunners and an impediment jinx. All three hit one of the two Death eaters in the room, who looked out for the count for now as he flew into the wall and broke through it partially. Harry ran towards another sofa and put up a shield as he hid behind it.

"Impedimenta, diffindo," shouted Ron as he came back and caught the second Death eater by surprise. The Death eater flew into the wall and was cut up in several places. Ron ran towards Harry. Another voice came, this one much calmer.

"Come out now Potter, and we'll make this short. The Dark Lord wants you for himself," said the voice. Ron leaned his head to the side to take a look.

"Harry, it's Dolohov," he whispered. "We have to leave now." Harry nodded and stood up and started firing every spell that came to his mind. Ron stood up and followed suit. Dolohov blocked or parried every spell before returning fire. Harry and Ron crouched back down and conjured shields as they were battered by Dolohov's spells.

"It's over potter," purple flames ripped through both of their shields, but thankfully they moved from their previous hiding place as the couch incinerated almost instantly. Harry motioned Ron back through the door and noticed that Dolohov had revived the other Death eaters. Harry fired some more spells as Ron ran back to Hermione.

"Diffindo," shouted Harry at the Death Eater closest to him, who brought up a shield to block his spell. Harry ran out of his cover and went through the doorway where Hermione was with Ron behind the kitchen counter. He clutched his own back which was aching. Her left arm had a shallow gash in it. She was muttering something while pointing her wand at the wound which was healing painfully slow.

"We can leave through the back door," said Ron. The three of them got up and ran following Hermione who led them into the backyard. They heard another little explosion.

"We have to get past the wards they put up. Ron, keep a shield up, Harry give us cover," said Hermione as they ran through the backyard. Harry fired several spells over his shoulder as Ron kept up a shield to block incoming fire. "Over the fence guys," shouted Hermione. "Grab my hand," Harry jumped over the low fence separating Hermione's backyard and the neighbour's and grabbed Hermione's hand once on the other side. Harry looked back once more to see Ron's shield shattered by another spell by Dolohov, who was preparing to curse them yet again. The curse rammed through the fence, dismantling it hurtling towards them, just as he felt he was being squeezed through a tight tube.

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><p>Harry awoke to the sound of Ron snoring on the opposite side of the bed. He reached to his right to pick up his glasses and put them on. He looked around until he saw Hermione standing by the window looking out towards the Eiffel Tower. It was still dark out and Harry could see the full moon. It was beautiful. A gust of air blew in from the open window, as Hermione drew in a deep breath and revelled in the cool wind. <em>She is beautiful.<em> Harry was confused lately by the thoughts he was having about his friend lately; they were not entirely innocent. He didn't know why, but knew that they were always there in the back of his mind. However, now with the three of them alone, the thoughts were making their way to the forefront of his mind. He didn't know where these thoughts would take him, but he had no desire to stop himself. Hermione was in deep thought with her arms crossed as she looked towards the beautiful city of Paris. Harry decided not to disturb and just admired her from afar. Even when Ron had his doubts about him, Harry knew she was always by his side. Harry looked towards his best mate, deep in sleep. He knew from the bottom of his heart that Ron would never betray him, and his trust would never waver from him. For the next five minutes, Harry watched Hermione ponder, until he couldn't resist anymore. He knew he shouldn't do this. But Harry couldn't help himself. Was it really worth it to drive a wedge between their friendship at this point, and what about Ginny? The thoughts of Ginny at this point were at the furthest recesses of his mind. The last thing that Harry would do is go behind his best mate's back. Why did he seem so helpless all of a sudden? Why couldn't he control himself anymore? All he knew is that Hermione had been on his mind for far too long and he needed to act on it. He had to sort this out. Then, maybe he could let this rest after. Harry silently got out of bed and walked slowly over to Hermione and snaked his arms around her waist from behind her. Harry had expected her to be shocked and look back to see who it was. She did the exact opposite, and relaxed her body and leaned back into him. He put his chin on his shoulder and held her close to himself. He held her for a full minute before deciding to let her know that it was him and not Ron, but she beat him to it.

"It's beautiful isn't it Harry, the moon," she sighed softly and pressed her cheek into Harry's.

"Mmm," was all Harry could muster. Then as if a bucket of cold water had been poured onto her head, Hermione's body went rigid. Harry let her go and turned her around. She kept her eyes down. "Hermione," said Harry as he lifted her chin. When she finally looked at him directly, he could see her eyes were full of tears that were threatening to fall out. Harry quickly enveloped her in a hug. Harry didn't know what was going on but he held her close, and they stayed like that until the sun rose. Had they been paying any attention to the bed, they would have noticed that Ron woke up the moment Harry had gotten out of bed.

"Harry, Hermione," said Ron. "Are you two okay?" Harry looked around to see Ron sitting on the side of the bed and watching them. Harry smiled and led Hermione back towards Ron. Ron looked genuinely concerned. Harry felt a little ashamed of doing what he did, but he couldn't get Hermione's words out of his mind. She knew it was him.

"We're fine Ron," replied Hermione. "We just got caught up in the moment." Ron looked at her a little confused but didn't comment. "You two clean up while I order some food," said Hermione. Harry quickly walked into the washroom to take a shower. It had been a week since they had arrived in Paris, and since they were almost killed or captured at the hands of Dolohov. Hermione made a full recovery thanks to the healing spells she found in one of the books they brought. Harry and Ron just had aching backs from when they were thrown around like ragdolls by Dolohov. They didn't dwell onto that for long. They had celebrated his birthday last night with a cake Hermione had ordered. Harry didn't want anything special, and with them on the run, Ron and Hermione didn't really have gifts for him. Not that it mattered, as long as he had the two of them. He walked out of the washroom and saw Ron and Hermione on the bed whispering harshly to each other. He hoped they weren't arguing again. _What if they're arguing about what happened before?_ Harry mentally kicked himself for not being able to restrain himself. He walked over to them when they saw him. Their conversation came to an abrupt halt. Just then there was a knock on the door. The food was here.

"So, these horcruxes…" started Ron, leaving the conversation hanging. Hermione took one last sip of her juice and turned to look towards Harry, waiting for him to carry on what Ron started.

"The last and only clue relevant to one horcrux that we have is the note from R.A.B., and that in itself doesn't really help us much. As for any other horcruxes, we can only make speculations," said Harry.

"We need a way to track these down, otherwise we could be searching for years and not find one," exclaimed Ron.

"I think we should search places that were significant to Voldemort, it's what Dumbledore did," continued Harry.

"Yes, but Harry, even Dumbledore had to interrogate a bunch of people before he actually went to the cave with you. We don't want to run a fool's errand and get ourselves caught or killed," said Hermione. All three of them fell silent for a moment, remembering last week's events before Ron spoke up.

"Well then, we need to follow in Dumbledore's footsteps," both Harry and Hermione looked up to him confused. "Well, look at it this way, Voldemort apparently only kept objects of significance to him right?" both Harry and Hermione nodded. "Well those objects pertain to his life, so we have to interrogate those people that he kept close or that he associated with for any clue that might lead to an item of significance," Harry and Hermione sat stunned at this. Now they were getting somewhere.

"That's brilliant Ron, but just one problem," starter Hermione. "We're not really in any condition to interrogate anyone. The people most likely entrusted with this information would probably be people from his inner circle," finished Hermione.

"Yeah, you're both right. One of the horcruxes was entrusted to Malfoy, but like Hermione said, we can't really barge into one of the inner circle's house and demand where the horcrux is. Also, he hid the locket himself, Dumbledore recognized Voldemort's magical signature in the cave, so there's no way of knowing how many he entrusted and how many he hid himself. Argh." Harry was getting frustrated by the moment. Every new development led to a dead end.

"That's only the start of our problems," started Hermione. "Harry, even if we do find one, how are we going to destroy it. Last time you used a basilisk fang, and Dumbledore used the sword of Gryffindor, and we have neither of them," Harry's frown grew even more.

"And the fact that even if we do manage to destroy them all, we still have to face Voldemort. He might be mortal then, but there's a reason people are afraid to even say his name. He's the most powerful bloody dark wizard ever," said Ron. This just seemed to get more and more hopeless. The trio sat with their heads down mulling things in their own head. There were so many things they hadn't accounted for as of yet and now they were all hitting them full in the face.

"The biggest problem we have is that we can't face up to Voldemort or his inner circle in a duel, so we wouldn't even get a chance to interrogate them before they kill us on the spot. Let's face it, every time we came across them, we ran for our lives, and the only time we fought them, we had luck on our side. Even last week, Dolohov would have got all three of us if we didn't get out in time," said Hermione.

"Yeah, you might be strong, but Hermione's right mate, we're no match for them," said Ron solemnly. Harry nodded slowly, while he thought about the one sided duel he had with Snape and lately Dolohov. He couldn't even land one spell on them. Harry sighed at another obstacle that arose. This seemed hopeless before they even started. What could they do?

"Harry, we need to disappear for a while and study magic on our own, possibly at a much faster rate than we did at Hogwarts. I know that it'll take time away from the search, but we need more experience," said Hermione. Harry now thought of how Dumbledore had easily figured out how to get past almost all of Voldemort's wards. The blood ward, the boat and the potion. Harry's head sunk even lower. Both Ron and Hermione were right.

"How much time can we really afford Hermione, while we're off practicing magic, he could be killing off everyone we love and care about," said Harry. They were getting nowhere with this. After a moment of silence Ron spoke up.

"There's only one way…"

"Ron, no…we can't, we shouldn't," Hermione cut in before Ron could finish.

"Would you two mind telling me what you're talking about?" asked a confused Harry.

"With Ron being a pureblood, he would know…" said Hermione.

"Know what?" asked Harry again getting irritated.

"Harry, rituals to boost one's magical prowess, but they're extremely dangerous and then there're the sacrifices," Hermione shuddered. "It's unnatural," she glared at Ron for even suggesting this.

"I'm just putting this out there, I didn't mean to actually attempt this," said Ron. Harry looked at both of them. _How bad can these rituals be? Would they give us a fighting chance? _Harry's thoughts indulged themselves in these rituals for a minute before he decided to speak up.

"What are the consequences? How is it done? What would it do?" he asked. Hermione looked affronted.

"Harry, you can't be serious?" Hermione looked at him pleadingly.

"At least explain Hermione," he prodded her. Hermione frowned not liking this one bit, but relented.

"For one, if done wrong, a ritual can do the opposite of what you're attempting or kill you outright depending on what one is attempting to do. They have to be very precise. All of the rituals that I've come across in Ancient Runes required some sort of sacrifice…"

"What sort of sacrifice?" asked Harry who was regretting asking about this. He wouldn't sacrifice someone to increase his own magic. That was something Voldemort would do. It was probably something he had already done.

"It depends on the ritual. The sacrifice can be anything from live human flesh to your own emotions," said Hermione. Harry looked at Ron and knew their thoughts were similar. They could protect their loved ones if they were more powerful. Hermione however didn't seem convinced.

"If we could find a ritual that doesn't require us to kill someone…" said Ron as he looked at Hermione who put her head down.

"You know one don't you Hermione?" asked Harry. She nodded. "Well…" asked Harry awkwardly. Hermione stayed silent for a minute before seemingly bracing herself and looking up.

"The ritual is extremely complex, however it will give us what we desire," she went into her lecture mode. "It will increase our magical core's capacity as the ritual funnels magic from each person undertaking the ritual. It will peak the magical prowess of the larger cores and then the new cores will continue to grow normally as our original cores would have…" this all sounded very intriguing to both Harry and Ron. Not only would they become powerful by the end of the ritual, they will keep gaining magic as a normal wizard or witch growing up.

"So what is the sacrifice?" asked Ron sceptically.

"That's the problem, I don't know what the sacrifice is…" said Hermione.

"But…" started Harry but Hermione cut in.

"The book mentioned that the sacrifice would be done during the ritual, so we would not know what we would be sacrificing while we attempt this…The ritual would pick by itself," Hermione put her head down again avoiding eye contact with both boys.

"What aren't you telling us Hermione?" asked Harry gently.

"The book I read this ritual about was in the same book that I borrowed from Dumbledore's office," she looked up; they had already known which books she summoned out of Dumbledore's office.

"The book on Horcruxes…" whispered Ron.

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><p><em>AN: The trio will be attempting the ritual mentioned, because I want to give them a fighting chance…Please review and give me ideas on what the sacrifices for each of the trio should be, as long as they're in context of what is written in this chapter, thank you. Darkpotter99._


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